Kesteven and Sleaford High School Selective Academy

I strongly advise all parents not to send your daughters to this school for a number of reasons.

I’d like to start by saying, that for the entire 6 years I attended KSHS, myself (and others) felt as though we were consistently being made to compete against each other when it came to our grades and other academic achievements. As well as this, when anyone made an achievement in an academic subject, this was rubbed in the faces of the less academic of us, and we were forced to see these girls as “model students”, all the while, non-academic or arts based achievements were entirely overlooked. The school holds “prize-givings” every year, in which badges are handed out to select students from each class in subjects that they have excelled in. In my opinion, this is completely unfair, and from my experience has made me feel like my own, and the efforts of my classmates are under appreciated. These kind of events are quite discriminatory against students who struggle in the classroom, whether naturally, or due to some kind of learning difficulties (for me, ADHD and dyslexia). I always put in maximum effort in my classes throughout my time at this school, however it was drilled into me that my efforts were not enough, because there was always someone better.

Another thing this school lacks is any regard for the arts, although they like to claim otherwise. The music department at this school is the worst I have ever come across. The small amount of funding they were given a few years ago was spent on multiple half-size violins, none of which had all four strings, when it was so evident which areas of the department required funding instead. The art department is okay, however artistic talent was never really something I saw being praised. If you have a daughter who has a strong interest in the arts or wants to pursue it in any way, especially music, this is 100% the wrong place for her.

In terms of the staff at this school, I still can’t really say anything good. While I did have a few teachers here that I absolutely loved and who made my time far more bearable, I really cannot say the same about the majority. While I understand that schools have uniform policies that they have to follow, and while I also understand that I was an angsty young teen at the time, the way these rules are enforced is completely appalling. I ended up in tears on dozens of occasions, after I was not allowed to attend my lessons for things such as makeup, jewellery or piercings. My learning was disrupted by teachers who are meant to care about my education, just because of a superficial element of my appearance. Why does a school that prides itself on its diversity and inclusivity, as well its regard for academia, feel as though this is in any way acceptable?

In conclusion, the main aim of KSHS is to train your daughters to be obedient, fit in a box, and toe the line for the rest of their lives. Be a good normal member of society, never do anything interesting, don’t have fun, get a job, make money and work until you die. The world is far past that kind of outlook now, and maybe its time for KSHS to catch up.

I had to leave due to the lack of support from teachers, I had terrible anxiety from year 7 and was told that everything would get better and I would get used to it. That didn't happen. When my panic attacks got worse, I was just sent to reception to 'wait it out.'
The support staff are all lovely, understanding and are capable of helping but they seem to be a last resort when nobody knows what else to do and I only got some help when a member of support staff walked past during a panic attack just before I left.
This school is proud of themselves because they have a good system for people with mental health issues but they honestly just look past anyone who says they're struggling.
The uniform rules are just stupid and the full green outfit makes any student a target for catcalling and because everyone knows only teenage girls wear it.
Many teachers are pedos too so look out for that.

Tbh I don’t think it is the worst school out there it has good education and some of the teachers can be very supportive and passionate. However I understand that we don’t have much funding but more opportunities to raise money for trips could be better. Also there is a lack of discipline in most people and when they are punished it’s for unfair reasons such as taking a photo in class when we are researching for example but not for bullying ex. The school claim to be very helpful and help our mental health but the counsellors are just teachers and most people feel like they can’t talk to them. I think there are many improvements that could be made but tbf it’s not the worst.

The academics are great yet the way the school is ran can often off-put me.

Since I joined this school I have seen things change. Despise the fact that there have been changes, nothing has improved. This school feels as if it is stuck in the 1900s.
There are very few teachers that I would say are actually good teachers. Most teachers will favour students who excell academically rather than trying to teach the students who are struggling.
The school claims to have a great system for caring for student's mental health and wellbeing, yet I have yet to know a single person who has benefited from this. Since my first year at this school, my mental health has very rapidly decreased. I got to a point where I did not care about myself or anything. I have had to struggle since then to build myself back up from there by myself, because the one place that claims to offer great support did not do anything. In fact, the workload given to me from the school made my state much worse. I have seen students tell teachers that they want to k*ll themselves and have seen nothing done about it.
Recently a very small group of teachers have been getting better at supporting students, especially LGBTQIA+ students, however this is not a school-wide thing. I have seen, over my years here, teachers openly express discriminatory beliefs. There are teachers that are known to have used slurs in class before. If this was any other city school there would have been way more outrage from parents, yet because we're in a small town nobody pays attention to it.
There are so many rules that are made for the sake of making rules. We cannot show our knees when wearing out skirts. We are not allowed to wear socks that aren't green. On non-uniform days we aren't allowed to show our shoulders.
On a more positive note, the reason I gave this school 2 stars is because I have met some (hopefully) life long friends here.
However, this school needs to change. If it doesn't, it won't survive many more years.

Every moment I have spent in this school has made me want to kill myself, and that's not an exaggeration. There are only a couple teachers that I actually like, but the rest are either terrifying, awful at their job or both. I'm constantly stressed about homework. They make the students sit outside to eat their lunch, on the ground, even if it is soaking wet and cold and freezing. The LGBTQ+ club didn't even have a teacher administrating it; that was left to a couple of students, whereas all the other clubs did have teachers supervising it. One of the teachers has said a racial slur in a lesson. The same teacher also allows students to fat-shame and tell other students to kill themselves. He is awful.

There is also no regard for well-being for student in KS3. The school only cares about you if you excel in a certain subject, or if you have good grades. There is definitely obvious favouritism. The school also preaches mental well-being, but by taking away phones, pressuring students with the amount of homework, the school is the problem. Don't get me started on how they sexualise our bodies. On non-school uniform days, they have a rule where you're not allowed to wear tops that show midriffs or chest, or skirts/shorts that end at the thigh. They are sexualising MINORS' bodies by saying that. And the way they will give behaviour points to anyone who has their skirt above the knees. It's terrible, for a school that promotes women's rights. I hate this school. Don't send your kid here.